Collapse of Thomas Cook

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Thomas Cook - who started some 170 years ago running a railway excursion from Leicester to Loughborough - had ceased trading. 

From Wikipedia:

Thomas Cook & Son, originally simply Thomas Cook, was a company founded by Thomas Cook, a cabinet-maker, in 1841 to carry temperance supporters by railway between the cities of Leicester, Nottingham, Derby and Birmingham. In 1851, Cook arranged transport to the Great Exhibition of 1851. He organised his first tours to Europe in 1855 and to the United States in 1866.

Not sure how relevant to the forum, as I think they've been purely in airline / international holidays in recent years.

[broadgage]

Sad for those affected, but considering the wider picture and the climate emergency, not sorry to see them go.

If more people are using trains instead of aircraft, that is less damaging carbon emissions. If some people are holidaying within the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) instead of flying overseas, that is better still. Less fuel used AND more money staying in the UK, and more employment in the domestic tourist trade.

[Celestial]

Sad for those affected, but considering the wider picture and the climate emergency, not sorry to see them go.

If more people are using trains instead of aircraft, that is less damaging carbon emissions. If some people are holidaying within the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) instead of flying overseas, that is better still. Less fuel used AND more money staying in the UK, and more employment in the domestic tourist trade.

Wishful thinking I fear.  TC^‡(resolve) has gone because more and more people are making their own arrangements, not because they are staying in the UK.  There were 5 TC flights out of Bristol today, compared with 51 Easyjet flights.  And all TC's demise will do is encourage more people to do it themselves, whilst Tui will no doubt benefit, at least in the short term, from increased bookings from those not confident to travel without the comfort of a package.

[Western Pathfinder]

One small ray of hope is that the CAA^» (Civil Aviation Authority - about) is running replacement flights in order to repatriate those holiday makers who are still abroad ,SOS Grant Shapps has been organising this for the last couple of weeks !
Lord only knows what would of happened had the previous Minister still been in post !..

[stuving]

One small ray of hope is that the CAA^» (Civil Aviation Authority - about) is running replacement flights in order to repatriate those holiday makers who are still abroad ,SOS Grant Shapps has been organising this for the last couple of weeks !
Lord only knows what would of happened had the previous Minister still been in post !..

Do you need divine sources? Monarch went down in 2017, with rather fewer to be rescued (110,000) but a similar plan. Of course it's the CAA who are doing the real work in each case, but the SoS was, as it happens...

[Celestial]

Good to see the rail industry being proactive and allowing refunds for tickets no longer required and relaxing any time restrictions for people returning.

[didcotdean]

GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) have also pointed redundant TC^‡(resolve) staff towards applying for various vacancies they currently have on offer.

TC did have a department that specialised in sports event packages (ie providing some packaged combination of travel, hotel, ticket and hospitality) and much of this was in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom). Don't know if this involved rail though.

[JayMac]

An old schoolfriend is one of the thousands of Thomas Cook employees now looking for a new job. He's a Cabin Steward and joined TC^‡(resolve) after the collapse of Monarch.

[LiskeardRich]

EasyJet have just posted about cabin crew recruitment drop in sessions at various locations on Facebook open to TC^‡(resolve) staff

[Thatcham Crossing]

A couple of Thomas Cook's Airbus 321's were still flying until yesterday in basically Monarch colours (with Thomas Cook titles), having not been repainted since their previous operator went out of business.

On a well-known aviation forum that I'm a member of one newly-redundant pilot posted that he'd been made redundant from 3 failed airlines in 3 years.

Sadly the financial position was one of eye-watering (and mounting) debts. Seems they simply failed to compete and differentiate themselves, despite a previous close call back in 2011.

A very sad day for the travel industry.

[SandTEngineer]

A couple of Thomas Cook's Airbus 321's were still flying until yesterday in basically Monarch colours (with Thomas Cook titles), having not been repainted since their previous operator went out of business.

On a well-known aviation forum that I'm a member of one newly-redundant pilot posted that he'd been made redundant from 3 failed airlines in 3 years.

Sadly the financial position was one of eye-watering (and mounting) debts. Seems they simply failed to compete and differentiate themselves, despite a previous close call back in 2011.

A very sad day for the travel industry.

Apparently, didn't stop the execs milking it for huge bonuses in the meantime........

[PhilWakely]

Apparently, didn't stop the execs milking it for huge bonuses in the meantime........

A practice, sadly, by no means exclusive to Thomas Cook 

[Witham Bobby]

Apparently, didn't stop the execs milking it for huge bonuses in the meantime........

A practice, sadly, by no means exclusive to Thomas Cook 

Where the shareholders (who,very often, are themselves corporate bodies) don't exercise control over the way the directors operate, there's the risk that culture of executives helping themselves to shareholders' and creditors' money will flourish.  When directors o Company B sit on the remuneration committees of Company A, why would they risk uppsetting the directors at company A, when those same company A directors will be fixing the remuneration for the directors at company B?

It stinks.

Unnacceptable face of capitalism.  To coin a phrase

Shareholders need to exercise the control they have available to them in a far more responsible manner

[TonyK]

On a well-known aviation forum that I'm a member of one newly-redundant pilot posted that he'd been made redundant from 3 failed airlines in 3 years.

And he still has a job waiting for him.

When all is said and done, this saga is about a business model that doesn't fit the modern era. I flew to Naples last Wednesday and home on Sunday, for less than the price of a train fare to Bristol. I booked the flights and accomodation online, finding that a cheaper alternative to going to a travel agency in the High Street. If Ryanair had gone bust before I went, I would have been twenty quid out of pocket.

A business is only as good as the last phone call from the bank.

[Celestial]

If Ryanair had gone bust before I went, I would have been twenty quid out of pocket.

Although many people booking flights and accommodation separately find that they either have to lose the cost of the accommodation (which usually is payable in advance), or buy a new flight at a much increased cost as demand is outstripping supply. If the failure occurs a long time in advance then maybe only a deposit is lost, but much nearer the whole amount will likely have been paid.

Those who booked with TC^‡(resolve) as a package should get their money back. Whether they can afford to buy a new holiday for a similar price is doubtful, but at least they are not out of pocket.